What Do We Have?

I was listening to a minister online earlier this week and he brought up the story in Acts 3 about Peter and John and the crippled man sitting outside the temple gate.  The crippled man was begging for money, but Peter didn't have any money to give him on that particular day. And while that money would make Peter feel good about himself, it really wouldn't solve this crippled man's real need. 

I thought to myself, how often do I see the enormous need around me, within my community, and spend massive amounts of energy to simply put a Band-Aid on things?  How often do I labor to fix things that in the end really doesn't fix anything? Peter offered this man something that was life changing.  He offered this man, something that dealt with his deepest need.  What Peter had is what we all have as ministers of the gospel.  We have residing in us a power to transform the world around us.  The world has nothing more than superficial solutions to what cripples those within our communities.  I want to encourage you today to forget about what you don't have and to remember that what you do have is a power to transform those in your communities that are wounded, crippled, blinded, and bound by the enemy.   

Leadership Requires Courage

Fear is something we all encounter.  It manifests in a multitude of ways and has many different faces.  While many cower in the face of fear, courage refuses that approach.  Courage is the decision to stare fear in the eye and to refuse to submit to its intimidation.  It's the refusal to allow that fear to control and dominate you.  As a leader, you can rest assured that there are those you are leading that are dominated by all kinds of fears.  They will never gain victory over them, if you as a leader cannot conquer the fears in your life.  There is something powerful that happens to everyone around you when you determine be a man/woman of courage.  In the famous story of David and Goliath, David showed up on the scene and witnessed an entire army of men cowering in fear.  By the end of the story, the enemy was on the run and those same men who were dominated by fear were in pursuit of them, defeating them at every turn. What caused such a change?  It was simply the result of one young man who decided to walk out on the battlefield with courage.  The Rev. Billy Graham once said, "Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand the spines of others are often stiffened."  If you want to liberate those you lead, you'll need to start with yourself.  Determine to be a man/woman of courage and watch the courage grow in those you lead!